A Bellingham Foodie Blog Restaurant Reviews Bellingham Washington 98225

April 7, 2009

Bellingham Farmers Market is now OPEN for the season

The Bellingham Farmer’s Market opening day was Saturday and it was packed! It’s no wonder with the weather a cooperating factor – here comes our Pacific Northwest summer! Hooray! There were some of the old and some new vendors. I was glad Danielle from Sharazad was there as was Curt’s Kettle Corn (can you smell it?). There were children eating cupcakes from Icing On the Cake and ogling home-made, hand-made wool dolls. There were some new vendors tending booth. Waldorf mom’s with talent extraordinaire: one creating beautiful designs on furniture, another on glass, plus one making Kathy Kruse type German dolls of wool.

There are dozens of vendors and as the season progresses there will be the abundance of produce I’ve come to relish. My mother and MIL* love visiting Bellingham, and one of the highlights, besides their grandchildren, is the Farmer’s Market. My mother buys her gifts for her Florida friends there. She has traveled with Dr. Dandelion’s Lavender and, at other times, has flown home with dozens of spring radishes and plant starts (horseradish, if you need to know, THRIVES in Clearwater). While MIL has spoiled the grandchildren with Bavarian Pretzels and popcorn and ice cream…not that I’m complaining.

So plan accordingly: go to the Farmer’s Market late, so it’s not too crowded when I’m there. And, oooh, I can’t wait to hear a cappella from U4eeuh!

*MIL = mother-in-law

April 6, 2009

Aunt Madeline & Glazed Crullers

We went to Rocket Donuts. Again! Great location, great service, great food and sci-fi on the screen. Have you seen the talking robot?! Cool! My kids keep ordering the bars:  chocolate bars, maple bars, glazed bars, butter milk bars, twisted sugar bars. Those things are huge!

I just ordered a chocolate cruller. It is my long time favorite. I use to get then at Dunkin’ Donuts when I was a kid; chocolate or just glazed. The baker at Rocket makes them light and airy, not heavy or cakey or too sweet. I could eat a dozen, but am learning less is more. And, I’m happy to make a repeat visit because I know it will be a little treat. Today’s cruller sent me back. Way back, to Aunt Madeline. Crullers were Aunt Madeline’s favorite doughnut, too. Yes, that was the way donut use to be spelled.

I knew Aunt Madeline a LONG time ago. She was an ole lady whose inhibitions had gone dry so we could hear the scoop on who did what to whom way back when. And she didn’t need a sherry to fess up either. She was petite, well dressed and enjoyed the family gatherings. We were looking forward to seeing her one Christmas because the perfect gift sat wrapped for her: a dozen glazed crullers. It was such fun to see her open it! And she started eating them right there and then.

You see, food is what brings our families together. If it wasn’t for the free food, would we really spend time with our relatives? Just kidding!

March 29, 2009

Clouds in the Sky

Filed under: Bellingham local,local,Pacific Northwest,restaurants,Seattle — Bellinghamster @ 10:33 pm

There was a giant cloud above Bellingham today and it had a hole in the middle of it. It looked like a big puffy donut! The power of suggestion from veganinbellingham.com and Mighty- O Donuts.

You see, my partner has been out of town for a week and I’m getting a bit frazzled with the brood. So like any normal human being, I’ve been eating treats. A donut is a treat. They look beautiful and I will have very willing companions in the car for the drive down to Seattle Saturday. Heck, I didn’t even have my shoes on before the kids were out the door for Katie’s Cupcakes yesterday. But that’s a different post…

March 28, 2009

Katie’s Cupcakes

Filed under: Bellingham local,Bellingham Restaurants,local,Pacific Northwest,restaurants — Bellinghamster @ 10:19 pm

My daughter calls it the dancing cupcake store. My sons want to go there everyday now and participate in the Dirty Dan Days cupcake eating contest (who wouldn’t?).

Katie’s Cupcakes is open for business in Fairhaven. It is adjacent to Rebecca’s Flowershop with a shared interior doorway. This is why it smells like eden = floral green smells and sweet bakery smells. The space is high and bright and pastel. There is a children’s nook with games and books. And there is a glass case filled with fresh little delights. The little delights are cupcakes. The cake tastes like a cloud and the icing like its puff; so light and delicately sweet. Basically, a two thumbs up from all four of us.

Katie, her husband and daughter are very friendly. The girls working the counter were, too. Katie’s daughter even played a game with my kids for a little while (she was coaching them in the how-to department). I ate a pina colada cupcake with a little paper umbrella (coconut pineapple cake with light fluffy vanilla frosting and shredded coconut), the kids: cookies and cream (chocolate cake with cookies and cream frosting and oreo on top), black and white (rich chocolate cake with vanilla butter cream frosting) and red velvet (light chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting). Katie can make 17 different varieties of cupcakes. She has 5 regulars and then rotates the rest throughout the week. She does special orders (I just missed by one day the gluten free cupcakes leftover from a special order) and I’m hoping she’ll whip up a recipe that is vegan. They’re working on it.

They serve Spice Hut teas which are the BEST in Bellingham and locally brewed Agri-Bay coffee. Katie quits baking at about 4:30, so shake a leg if you want your favorite!

Coconut Bliss

Filed under: Bellingham local,Bellingham Restaurants,local,Pacific Northwest,restaurants — Bellinghamster @ 12:20 pm

My younger son and I were shopping at the Community Food Co-op Cordata store this morning. We were taking advantage of the sales before the month’s end. Plus we were having good luck with the new coupon book – there were many coupons for items we regularly purchase. As he pushed the cart down the last aisle, his eyes lit on the desserts. He brought me a container with something chocolate in it. How did he know I would love to share it with him? On 1 condition: haircut after shopping. “Sure”, he said!

Coconut Bliss: coconut, coconut milk, chocolate, brown sugar. The baker magically combined four ingredients and created this delectable dessert. We fervently applaud the bakers at the Community Food Co-op. I would give you the name of the baker, but there are a few who could have made it today. Then, I paused for thought and asked him, “Did you know you were choosing something gluten free and vegan”? He said he knew about the gluten free part, but didn’t know what vegan meant. I explained: Vegan = no animal products. And vegan products are a quick way to find dairy free foods.

We’ve been on a bit of a diet overhaul around here (they’re all so patient with me!). I was trying to organize who in the household was sensitive or allergic to what foods. What with the 5 of us, it had become too confusing until I found a reference to blood type diets at the end of Ann Louise Gittleman‘s nutrition book. Since reading the Dr. Peter J. D’adamo nutrition books, everyone in my house is feeling VERY good – which is a coup with children and schooling! Hence, my son being aware of his ‘gluten-free’ status. We are not strictly adhering, but I’ve learned to teach the children (and adults) that eating certain foods = optimum (sport) performance. Not a hard sell. FYI: hockey, lacrosse, mountain biking, swimming, sailing…

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